From the Heart
by Pharsti
Summary: Short WAFF/slightly dark fic, set during episode 23. In the aftermath of the 15th Angel, a broken and confused girl is in desperate need of some warmth and affection... But will her best friend be able to give her that?


Disclaimer: Evangelion is copyright of GAiNAX, Project EVA, Movic, AD Vision and Manga Entertainment.

****

From the Heart

By: Pharsti (pharsti11@hotmail.com)

The full moon was out, providing illumination in the dark of the night. It was late, so most houses in the Southern district of Tokyo-3 were quiet and dark, its residents asleep. However, there was still light coming from a window of a room of one residence.

The Horaki residence, to be precise, the room belonging to the class representative of 2-A. Inside, said girl was impassively watching a certain redhaired girl that was banging away on the joypad of her antique Sega console. The pigtailed girl was clad in her nightrobe, sitting on her bed.

'She doesn't go to school, she doesn't go home. She does nothing but play videogames all the time...'

"Hikari?"

She was startled out of her reverie, and quickly stammered her response. "W-What is it?"

"Let's go to bed."

"...Sure."

Asuka almost mechanically got to her feet and walked lifelessly towards the bed, letting herself fall down on it, never even bothering to turn off the game and the TV.

Hikari sighed and stood up, turning off the console and the TV, then walked over to her dresser and removed the small ribbons that were still holding her hair in her usual style. Flicking off the lights, she moved over to the bed and laid herself down on her back next to the redhead, resting her head on her pillow. Asuka had buried her face in her pillow, her erratic breathing could be heard. After a few minutes, the girl softly spoke up.

"Sorry... I'm causing a lot of trouble for you."

"No, not at all," she quickly replied. 

After a short pause, Asuka continued. "I lost, with Eva. I lost all my values for everything... It's not worth living anymore now..."

Hikari didn't answer, instead waiting for her to finish.

"I hate this... I hate everything, everyone... But most of all I hate myself."

She had never seen her lively friend quite like this before. She used to be so fiery and full of life. Now, she almost seemed suicidal to her.

"I don't care about anything anymore... I have nothing left to do anymore."

The brown haired girl decided that this would be a good time to cut her off, before she'd slip even further into her depression. "I think you can do anything you want to do, Asuka, and I wouldn't blame you. You really did your best."

Asuka clutched her pillow and started crying, letting out soft sobs. Hikari rolled her head to the side and watched the redhead trembling, her long hair draped over her face, covering her facial features. She had never expected this from the girl that used to be so strong of heart, a feat she had always been a bit jealous of.

Hesitantly, she raised up an arm and gently placed it on Asuka's waist. The redhead immediately reacted to this as she clasped her hand in her own, starting to cry even louder now. Hikari slowly shifted and moved a bit closer to her, draping her left arm all the way over her waist and softly stroking her auburn hair with her right. She made some soft soothing noises in the process, but it didn't at all help to calm the redhead down.

"Asuka... Please, don't cry... There's more to life than Eva you know..."

The desperate attempts at appeasing her had no effect at all. Eventually, Hikari just decided on tightening her grip on her some more, holding her a bit closer. Her cheeks slightly flushed a shade of crimson as she suddenly realised exactly _how_ close she was to her now. Even more so when she found she was actually quite comfortable, to just be close to someone, to just share the warmth with someone.

She took a deep breath, inhaling the aromatic scent of Asuka's hair and her favourite shampoo they both had just washed their hair with. It slightly dazed her, but she kept her face pressed in the tangle of silky auburn hair, highly enjoying the softness and suppleness of it. She placed some soft, consoling kisses on the back of her head. Asuka's trembling slowly died down, and she seemed a lot more at ease now, even though she was still crying. After a few minutes, she spoke up softly.

"...Hikari?..."

"Hmm... What is it?" The previous tenseness in her voice was now totally gone.

"Thank you..."

"Oh... Yeah... You're welcome..." She replied with some dissapointment in her voice, as she took this as a sign that she should release her now and leave her be. Slowly backing away from her and releasing the grip on her hand, she was surprised when the redhead tightened the grip again and pulled her arm back over her.

"Please... Don't... I-I... J-Just-"

"Okay," she cut in quickly, noticing Asuka was awkwardly looking for words that didn't need to be said. She understood perfectly. Settling back into her original, comfortable postion, Asuka let out a contended sigh. Hikari just smiled. Soon enough, peaceful sleep seemed to have overtaken the redhead, as her breathing became calmer and regular. Hikari found it a soothing comfort and started drifting off herself, eventually surrendering to the final vestiges of consciousness.

-----

Mornings at the Horaki residence were always quite hectic. Hikari's father would always be in a rush eating his breakfast and getting ready for his work as an engineer at Nerv Headquarters. Her younger sister Nozomi would always be whining and vibrantly jumping around the kitchen, yapping on and on about the most trivial things. Sometimes, Hikari wished she had some duct tape handy to tape off her mouth enabling her to finally get some peace and quiet. Her older sister, Kodama, was the complete opposite in that department. Not being much of a morning person, she was always in a bad mood, so it was wise not to speak too much to her. Nozomi was often reminded of that the hard way.

Ever since her mother died, all cooking affairs were appointed to Hikari, since she was the only one that could actually make some good meals. She didn't really mind, since she loved to cook. Ever since she was little, she had dreams to become a chef one day, and own a nice little restaurant. Though on mornings like these, she would gladly pass the task to someone else.

"Hikari! My egg is way overdone. Don't you know by now I like 'em half done?"

"Hey sis, this soup is way too hot!"

"Oh, Hikari, could you get me some milk please?"

Tuning out her siblings' constant complaining and idly obeying her father's commands, she was already longing for the moment that everyone was finally gone, and she could finally eat her own breakfast in peace.

Ten minutes later, Asuka came slowly stumbling down the stairs and entered the kitchen, clad in her school outfit. Hikari's father and elder sister had already left for work and school. Noticing the intruder, Nozomi looked up from the magazine she was reading, and almost started beaming when she saw the redhead.

"Aah! Asuka-san!" The eleven year old girl ran over to her, latching her arms around her waist and looking up at her with a bright smile on her face. "Hey, sis always tells me all kinds of cool stuff about you! You are the pilot of the big red robot right? You kill the bad monsters, right?"

Asuka blinked a few times, slightly startled by the energy that radiated from this girl. She continued to passively observe her with slightly widened eyes.

"Hey, can I ride along sometime? Or could you ask someone to give me a robot too!? You're a hero! I want to be just like you when I grow up!"

Her ramblings were interrupted as Hikari gently but firmly pulled her away from the redhead. "Nozomi-chan, shouldn't you be leaving for school right about now?" She stated with a sense of authority.

"But Asuka-sama was just going to tell me some cool stories!" The young girl whined, pleadingly looking back up at Asuka, "Right?"

Asuka crooked a slight smile at her. "...Maybe some other time, okay?"

Nozomi beamed back. "Yay! That's a promise, right?"

"Sure."

After Hikari helped her getting ready, she happily scurried out of the house and out of the porch, onto the busy streets of the city. She waved back. "Bye!!"

"Bye Nozomi! Be careful on the streets!" Hikari waved enthusiastically. Asuka just raised a hand, the corners of her mouth still slightly quirked upwards.

"She reminds me of myself when I was her age," Asuka said softly.

"I bet... Hey, let's go back inside, I'll give you some breakfast."

Asuka nodded, then followed Hikari back into the house. She sat down at the kitchen table, as the other girl served her some soup.

"So... Are you coming with me to school today?" The brown haired girl inquired.

Asuka shook her head.

"Why not? It might help you to forget everything that's happened."

Asuka frowned. "No. You don't understand. Eva was my life. I don't care about anything else."

"Still... It might do you some good you know..."

She didn't respond, instead resuming her slow slurping of her soup.

"Oh well... You can stay here I guess, but I have to go now. I'll tell sensei you're still sick," she said, disappointed.

"No... I... I don't want to be alone now... Can't you stay?" Asuka looked pleadingly up at her friend.

"No, of course not. I'm the class representative, I can't just skip class!"

"But... Please, I just-..."

"Look, I'll be back in the afternoon okay?" She cut in. "I'll come home immediately after school."

She grabbed her laptop and put it in her bag. Hauling it over her shoulder, she walked to the front door. "See you later, Asuka." Reaching for the door handle, she was suddenly caught from behind by two arms that locked themselves around her waist. Hikari slightly jumped, and tensed.

Asuka rested her head against her right shoulderblade, tightening her grip. "Please... Don't..." She softly murmured. Her cheeks turned a shade of crimson and her muscles trembled as she felt the German girl's warm breath washing over her neck. Managing to relax a bit, she slowly brought her arm back down from the door handle and placed it on Asuka's arm, giving it a soft, sympathetic squeeze. After a few minutes, Hikari spoke up.

"Why don't you come with me then? I'll arrange that we can sit together. You won't be alone, Asuka," she said in no more than a whisper.

The redhead tensed and increased the grip on her friend. "No!... I can't go back there! What would everybody think... The star Evangelion pilot, defeated! Everyone would laugh in my face!"

Hikari raised her voice a bit, a little steadier than before. "Of course not Asuka! They don't think of you like that! If anything, they'd congratulate you on a job well done! ...Since when did you start caring about what other people think about you anyway?"

"I-I... I don't. I-I..." Her voice was cracking. "I d-don't know... I-I just don't know anymore..." Burying her face in her shoulder, she started crying softly.

Hikari leaned her head to the side against the back of Asuka's head, gently stroking her long auburn hair. For the next few minutes, neither of them spoke a word. Asuka continued her soft sobbing, Hikari continued her attempts at consolation. Suddenly, a cellphone ringing in the pocket of the pilot broke through the silence. The catchy ringtone kept on going, its owner not bothering to answer the call.

"...Aren't you going to answer that? It could be important..." Hikari finally said.

"No... It's probably just Misato... I don't feel like talking to her," came her muffled reply as she still had her face buried in her friend's shoulder. Just as her phone stopped ringing, the sirens outside started blaring loudly. The sixteenth Angel had arrived. She always used to be agitated and cocky in anticipation of a battle in which she could prove herself to be the best once again, but now, Asuka just didn't seem to care anymore.

"Aren't you going? They probably need you you know," Hikari cut through the silence.

"No, of course they don't! They've got the invincible Shinji, they don't need someone as worthless as me!"

Hikari broke loose from Asuka's grip and turned around, firmly grabbing her shoulders and looking her in the eyes.

"You're not worthless Asuka. They need you. This city needs you. You're the best pilot they have, and you know it. Are you just going to let all the people in this city down now?"

"I don't care about this stupid city! They don't care about me either, so they can all just die!"

In a sudden fit of anger, the brown haired girl raised her arm and slapped Asuka in the face. Asuka put a hand up to her stinging cheek, and incredulously looked up at her friend, only to be met by a furious glare. She winced at the venom in her eyes.

"Listen to yourself! You're just giving up so easily! You've always abhored weak people, but that's exactly what you are right now!" Hikari snapped.

Asuka's eyes were wide. "But-..."

"No buts! You are going to Nerv Headquartes _right_ now missy, or ELSE!" She screamed, putting up her best authoritative voice, something she learned to do quite well being a class representative. Grabbing her arm, she firmly pulled the Eva pilot out of the house and onto the streets, where various people were busy running towards the nearest shelters.

The redhead didn't struggle, as she was still dazed by the sudden outburst of her pigtailed friend. She had never seen her angry like that before, not even to Touji. But what she had just told her... She knew it was true. She was being weak. And she hated herself for it.

Hikari pointed into the general direction of the nearest emergency elevator. "Go. Now."

Asuka fearfully looked back at her friend. Hikari just sympathetically squeezed her shoulder, giving a warm, heartfelt smile.

"Let's meet back here after this is over, okay?" She said, her gentle tone returning.

Slightly taken aback by her friend's sudden kind and confident demeanor, she felt something stirring inside of her. She didn't want to be weak anymore. She'd show that stupid Shinji. She'd show everyone she was the best once again. With some newfound willpower, Asuka smirked, then nodded firmly. "Yeah. I can do this. I'm Asuka Langley Sohryu! I'll show them! I'll beat that stupid Angel singlehandedly!"

Hikari chuckled. "That's the spirit! I'm glad the old Asuka is back!"

"Thanks to you that is," she replied smiling, grabbing her hands, "thank you Hikari. You're the best friend I've ever had."

She felt a sudden warmth stirring up in her body. Blushing, she slightly bowed. "Y-You're welcome."

Releasing her hands and turning around, Asuka smirked back at her over her shoulder. "Don't worry, this won't take long." With newfound confidence, she ran towards the elevator that would take her straight into the bowels of the Geofront.

"Be careful, and good luck!" Hikari called out to her, waving.

Satisfied and with a sense of pride, the pigtailed class rep made way towards the shelter located a few hundred yards away from her house. All the while trying to sort out her current feelings. She felt extremely good at being able to help out her best friend. But, the feeling she had when Asuka was smiling at her was much stronger. Never before had she ever seen her smile at anyone like that either. It were usually just smirks, only meant to mock people. This time, it was definately something else. But what?

Not finding any answers within herself, she decided she should just ask Asuka when she got back. If she got back. Her pacing slowed, her heart filling with dread as the realistic side of things suddenly sank in to her. Asuka was royally defeated by the last three Angels. And, from what Kensuke had told her, they seemed to be getting stronger every time. Also, her synchro rate had been steadily dropping, and if she understood it right the synchro rate was directly proportional to the strength of the Eva.

'No! I shouldn't think like that!' She mentally berated herself, trying to shake the negative thoughts out of her head, 'she'll be just fine. I know it.' Settling on that, she finally arrived at the elevators that led to the shelter deep underground. Trying to keep her mind on other things, she entered one of the elevators that was about to descend, filled to the rim with anxious families. She just hoped _her_ family would be alright now too.

-----

Geo-Shelter 276

276th Underground Shelter

Tokyo-3 Disaster Prevention Department

Total Floor Space: 2000m² Maximum Occupancy: 250

Hikari tore her gaze off the sign, and looked around. There were at most about eighty people, since it was morning and most people would be at work at the time. Work would mean Nerv Headquarters for the majority of the remaining inhabitants, since most of the people of whose means of income didn't depend on the monster-organisation in both the literal and figurative sense had long since moved away towards a safer place to live. Apart from the lines of chairs running alongside the walls and a couple of plants, the one-roomed shelter was completely empty.

The pigtailed girl sat herself down on the ground in a corner of the shelter, since the few dozen chairs available were all already taken. She had gone through this often, but never really gotten used to it. Since there always was news censorship regarding the Angel attacks, they never had any idea of what was going on outside. All they could do was to anxiously wait, hoping the pilots would do well and defeat the Angel.

Some muffled rumblings could be heard in the distance. Hugging her knees to her chest, she scanned around the shelter. She knew most people by appearance, since they all lived in the same house block. Two Nerv security guards that were assigned to oversee this shelter were chatting with each other next to the elevator. Large blankets were placed on the ground by people so they could rest themselves on something softer and warmer than the cold, metal floor. Some people were engaged in group hugs with their families, others were much cooler about it and were joking around, making fun of the pilots, the Eva's and the Angels.

She used to be the type to stay rational; reassuring the frightened children, breaking up heated arguments that often started in the tense atmosphere, that sort of thing. However, this time her mind couldn't help but keep falling back on a certain German girl that was out there in no condition to fight. A girl that... meant exactly what to her? She felt so comfortable and at ease last night when they shared a bed and warmth together. And when she smiled at her a few moments ago... She had felt her stomach twisting into a knot and a warm sensation running through her body.

Another muffled crash was heard. People increased their grip on one another. Hikari shivered, even though the shelter was well heated. She crossed her fingers, silently praying for the life of her friend, and that this would be over soon.

Suddenly, the entire shelter shuddered violently, followed shortly by a deafening crash. The lights failing, people started screaming, children started crying. Complete chaos erupted in the small shelter. Hikari covered her ears and buried her face in her knees, waiting for the insane rumblings to cease.

After a few moments, everything was quiet. People stopped panicking, the lights started up again and the crying of children slowly died down. Hesitantly looking back up, she noticed the wall opposite of her had totally crumbled down. Some people seemed to be hurt, but as far as she could see, they weren't badly injured. Some of the more helpful people rushed to aid the injured, while others were silently muttering some prayers or were latched into embraces with their loved ones.

Eventually a female voice came over the speaker, telling them to 'evacuate the shelters in a calm and orderly fashion'. The elevators weren't working anymore, but thankfully there was still an emergency staircase on the opposite side of the shelter. Hikari shakily got to her feet, brushing off her skirt with her hands. The mob of restless people were being led out by the Nerv security personnel. She didn't know anything else to do but to follow, and praying her sisters had been just as lucky as she had been.

-----

The Horaki sisters were silently watching over the wreck that used to be their house. The bright summer sun was intensely blazing down on the ruins of the city. The sad expressions on their faces were a big contrast to only a few moments ago, when they had been overjoyed to learn that they were all okay.

The blast had been devestating. They didn't know what happened exactly, but the huge crater that had just swallowed up the vast majority of Tokyo-3 was indication enough to conclude that _something_ huge had just blown up. Their house was, unfortunately, just a little too close to it, considering the houses a few hundred yards away were still unscathed. Disconcerted people were walking about, or crawling in the ruins of their former homes, hoping to be able to collect some of their most precious belongings.

The silence between the three was broken when Nozomi started crying. Kodama kneeled and picked up her younger sibling and took her in a hug. She glanced over at Hikari, who was sadly watching them.

"Let's go. The evacuation buses are leaving soon," Kodama spoke sadly.

"Umm... You go ahead. I'll be there in a minute," Hikari replied.

Nodding, Kodama turned and walked off towards their designated evacuation spot. The remaining citizens had been informed that Nerv had provided the means for everyone to evacuate to Tokyo-2, where special refugee camps had been created. The Angel was destroyed, so it seemed, but Hikari feared the worst for her friend.

Thankfully, her fears proved unjust, as she saw a mass of red hair and the green and white of a school uniform slowly stumbling towards her in the distance. Relieved, Hikari quickly ran over to her. As she came closer however, she noticed her slumped shoulders and the lifeless look in Asuka's eyes. Things hadn't fared well for her, she feared.

"Asuka!" She spoke worriedly. "How'd it go?"

The Eva pilot stopped her movement, and slowly raised her head towards her friend, meeting her brown eyes with her own. Her mouth slightly moved up and down, as if trying to say something. Eventually, she let herself slump down to the ground on her knees, as if someone had just drained all the life out of her in an instant. Her auburn hair was hanging down, covering her facial features.

"No... It wouldn't move... Why wouldn't that stupid doll move when I told it to!?" She whispered hoarsly.

Noticing the redhead shivering, she kneeled down next to her. "...Asuka-..."

"Why, Hikari!?" She cut her off, pleadingly looking back up to her. "I tried... I did my best like you told me to! I couldn't save this city afterall. I'm worthless..." She cast her eyes back to her lap.

Hikari bit her lip. She managed to cheer her up before, but now the German girl looked even more depressed than ever. Gently cupping Asuka's chin with her hand, she tilted her head to face hers.

"You're not worthless Asuka. You really did your best. Even after what happened to you the previous time, you still tried. That's very brave of you," Hikari said consolingly.

Asuka kept looking in her eyes for any traces of mockery. Finding none, she averted her eyes, and shifted her gaze upon the former Horaki residence.

"I'm sorry..."

"For what?"

"Your house... It's my fault..."

"Of course it's not! I don't blame you for that!"

Asuka furrowed her eyebrows and looked back down.

"You've saved this city countless times. You three are considered heroes by everyone here. Didn't you see how Nozomi looked up to you?"

The corners of the redhead's lips slighty quirked upwards, producing the slightest of smiles at the memory of the energetic girl.

"You didn't let anyone down," she continued, standing up and reaching an arm out to her, "I'm very proud of you, Asuka."

Tentatively looking up at her friend, she was met by a warm smile. Asuka reluctantly grabbed her hand as the pigtailed girl helped her to her feet.

"...Thank you..." She whispered softly, her eyes still empty of life.

"You're welcome," Hikari smiled, then her expression turned to one of sadness. "But I... I have to leave shortly..."

"W-...What? Where?" She inquired fearfully.

"To Tokyo-2. Nerv is evacuating the entire city," Hikari responded.

Asuka felt her heart sink. "Oh... You can't... Stay?"

Hikari gave her a sad look. "I'm really very sorry... But my sisters really need me... I can't leave them on their own," she replied.

Asuka cast her eyes back to the ground. 'I knew it... Everyone I start caring about leaves me at one point or the other... Dammit... How could I've been so stupid...'

Hikari closed the distance between them. "I-I'll really miss you..." She tentatively grabbed Asuka's waist and pulled her into a hug. She suddenly tensed as she felt the redhead went to rest her head against her shoulder and nuzzling her neck. Her warm breath pleasantly tickling the tender skin of her throat, Hikari slightly shivered.

Tracing her hands slowly from her pigtailed friend's slender waist up to her shoulderblades, Asuka leaned closer into her, desperately seeking some warmth and affection. Hikari was blushing furiously and let out a small gasp as Asuka considerably tightened her grip, clutching at her shoulders. After a few moments, she was finally able to relax a bit into the embrace. Hikari encircled her friend's waist with her arms, and gently rested her chin against her forehead.

After a few minutes, Asuka slowly tilted her head upwards, her soft lips brushing against the smooth skin of Hikari's neck in the process. A pleasant shiver running through her spine, Hikari lowered her head to meet Asuka's gaze. Paralyzed by her big beautiful eyes longingly looking up to her, she could do nothing but stare into and be swallowed by the abyss of her azure blue orbs. Her eyes slowly came closer and closer, until finally they shut, and Asuka slightly tilted her head, softly pressing her lips against hers.

Hikari swallowed the lump in her throat, a vortex of emotions violently swirling through her mind. Her eyes still wide, she tried to contemplate her current situation. Here she was, tightly embracing and kissing another girl. To Hikari, this girl looked desperate. Desperate for some sort of affection. Was she really justified to give her that? Did she really feel that way about her? Her reason was heavily urging her to stop this at once, but naturally, her instinct came out as the winner in her short internal conflict.

Feeling Asuka lean a bit more into the kiss, she closed her eyes and tried to push her contradicting emotions aside, just succumbing to the incredible sensation of her first real kiss and the intoxicating softness of Asuka's warm lips instead. Moving her hands upwards, she ran her fingers through the redhead's fiery, silky hair, highly enjoying the soft, supple feel of it. The other girl was instead just tightly clinging onto her torso.

Suddenly, the full weight of her current situation hit her, noticing their chests pressed together tightly, and that she was almost passionately running her hands through Asuka's hair and over her back. Trying to control herself, she slowly traced her hands back down the redhead's sides to her waist, and tried to take a small step back only to find that she was still held tightly in place by her desperate friend. Letting her arms hang down along her sides, she felt Asuka move her own hands from her upper back and trace them over her bare underarms to her hands. The redhead locked her hands in hers, intertwining their fingers.

Asuka let out a soft moan. Hikari paid it little mind though, instead continuing to surrender to her desire to be close to her, to share warmth and affection with her. Suddenly, she felt something warm wettening her lips. Something salty. Slowly breaking off the kiss, Hikari opened her eyes to see tears streaming down her friend's face. As Asuka released the grip on her hands, Hikari brought up her left arm and tenderly wiped away the redhead's tears with the back of her hand, giving her a reassuring smile.

Burying her face into her pigtailed friend's shoulder, the fragile girl continued to softly cry her heart out. Hikari just gently stroked her back, starting to feel extremely guilty that she would have to leave her behind like this. Unfortunately, she couldn't find any solutions to the problem. But surely, Misato and Shinji would be there to look after her wouldn't they? Yeah... There was nothing to worry about.

After a few minutes, Hikari absently checked her watch to see that the buses would already leave in about five minutes. She would have to hurry to still make it in time. Noticing Asuka had already calmed down a bit, she put her hands on her shoulders and gently pulled the redhead at an arms length from her. She looked her in the eyes, the blue orbs highly contrasting the redness of the area around them.

"When this is all over," Hikari began, "I'll come back, of course. Until then... take care alright?"

Asuka absently nodded, but the lifeless look in her eyes made Hikari wonder if she was even listening to her.

"Go home, ok? At least you still can... Katsuragi-san is probably worried about you."

Again, a nod. Her eyes weren't even really focusing on her friend, it was more like she was looking through her.

"...Okay then... Well... Goodbye Asuka. I'm really going to miss you." She let go of her shoulders and slowly took a few steps back, waiting for some kind of response from the redhead. Getting none, she furrowed her eyebrows and disappointedly turned around, walking off in the direction of where the buses for their block would leave. After a few dozen paces she turned around raising her arm, intending to wave out her friend. Instead, she saw that the redhead was already stumbling away in the opposite direction. Sighing, she increased her pace and continued walking.

Asuka's shoulders were slumped, and she was frowning deeply. '...Dammit...' A last lone tear traveled down her cheek to her chin, then fell down to the dusty ground underneath her. Continuing her slow pace, she made a sudden turn to the right and wandered off into the ruins of the former metropolis. She didn't feel like going home anymore.

END

A/N:

O_o

Yeah, yeah, I know.

Anyway, I was reading a thread on pairings on the EFO forums the other day, and I realised that I had never seen any fics with this somewhat obvious pairing before. (Hey, at least it's more plausible than Asuka/Rei, of which there are DOZENS of fics of ^_^) So... I thought I'd try my hand at it. Hope you weren't too shocked or offended by it.

I guess we all know what happens next. Yeah, I know, this ending kinda sucked... but I blame that to the chronic disease many people seem to suffer from called laziness ^^

Anyway, read it (if you're like me and often skip to the author's notes before reading the fic itself ^^;), review it, flame it, or whatever suits you :p.

Later,

Pharsti


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